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ture page with the response. Few, if any, terms and conditions are subject to
negotiation.

9.4.2 NON-COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT
There are two main models for the non-competitive procurement: the sole
source justification and the single source justification. The sole source model
is based on the government’s determination on the record that only one vendor
can provide the needed commodity or service. The single source model is pred-
icated on the governmental decision that while more than one vendor can
provide the requisite commodities or services, for stated business reasons the
government has determined it is best to contract with a specific vendor. A non-
competitive procurement obligates the government to state on the record why
a certain vendor was selected and justify its selection. This type of procurement
may open the government’s decision making to second-guessing or criticism.

9.4.3 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN EVALUATING THE COMPETITIVE
VERSUS NON-COMPETITIVE MODELS

While a non-competitive procurement dispenses with the need to develop and
conduct a RFP and only requires the negotiation and approval of a contract,
much of the effort put into the development of a RFP is not eliminated but
instead is only deferred. Developing a RFP forces a governmental agency to
examine and articulate its business needs and to assess the relative importance
of various factors. It is a very useful, but difficult, component of implementing
a complex system like an AFIS. A RFP provides a roadmap for developing the
resulting contract, and the vendor proposal may indicate agreement with
certain terms and conditions, reducing the scope of negotiations. In a non-
competitive procurement, the definition of business needs and implementation
must be part of the contract negotiations or conducted simultaneously.
Arguably, the time commitment for contracts negotiation in the non-competi-
tive procurement is greater because there has not been the same, intense def-
inition of requirements (especially functional and performance requirements).
While the government may have defined its business needs for an AFIS as part
of the effort to secure funding, it is unlikely that such a definition would have
explored topics such as acceptance testing, protection of the government’s busi-
ness environment, and damages for late or defective performance. As indicated
in Table 9.1, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with each pro-
curement model that must be assessed.
Non-competitive procurement negotiations are conducted in an environ-
ment that may have resulted in the shifting of relative negotiation positions. In